PAWPAW SEEDS AS THERAPEUTIC AGENT FOR PARASITIC GASTRO-INTESTINAL HELMINTH OF GOATS

Nine female West African dwarf (WAD) goats naturally infested with gastrointestinal helminthes were used to assess the efficacy of pawpaw seeds suspension vis-a-vis that of levamisole in the treatment of gastrointestinal nematodes of goats. The animals were allotted into 3 groups: 1,2 and 3 of three animals each in a completely randomized arrangement. Group one was treated with pawpaw seds (dried and gound) at 50mg/kg orally, biweekly for six weeks; while the second group was given levamisole at 7.5mg/kg 1/m; Group 3 was left as untreated control. The approximate efficacy rating of 86.46%, 95.92% for Oesophagostomum; 94.50%, 98.54% for Trichuris and 92.61%, 94.06% for Trichostrongylus was established for treatment 1 and 2 respectively. However in the untreated control, the efficacy rating is not applicable since there were increase in egg per gram (EPG) in faeces across all the nematode types identified. Levamisole produced higher efficacy rating across all the nematode types compared to pawpaw seeds. There were gradual weight gains in treated animals while there were corresponding weight loss in the untreated ones. The PCV and Hb evaluations of treated animals were within the normal physiological range of values for each blood parameter unlike the untreated that fell below.